Description
Myrica cerifera
Also known as: Southern Barberry
Native Wax myrtle is an easy to care for, fast growing, dense evergreen ornamental shrub or small tree with aromatic olive green leaves when crushed. Use as a wildlife friendly screen or hedge that provides excellent high energy food source for birds in the winter, attracting and holding migratory warblers among others.
Fruit: Pale blue waxy, on females only, fall and winter
Wildlife benefits: Fruit eaten by tree swallow, bluebird, catbird, red bellied woodpecker, brown thrasher, whiteeyed vireo, Carolina chickadee, myrtle warbler, and many other species of birds.
Companion Plants: Sweetbay, post oak, yaupon, sparkleberry, inkberry, beautyberry, swamp azalea Butterfly larval host: Redbanded Hairstreak Calycopis cecrops
Other Uses: insect repellent, aromatic when leaves are crushed, candle wax
Yearly Foliage: Evergreen shrub
Hardiness Zone: 5-9
Light: Full sun, partial shade
Mature Growth: 7-10 feet tall – 15-20 feet wide – Spacing 20 feet
Soil: wet to dry (xeris uplands) Salt tolerant
Blooms: March – May
Wildlife: Nectar-insects, Nectar-butterflies, Nectar-bees
Larval Host Plant for: Red Spotted Purple butterfly
Plant Size when available: Bare Rooted seedlings, 1 gallon, 2 gallon, 3 gallon
